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Velo Club Botafogo
Introduction Based in Rio de Janeiro at the Sugarloaf Mountain, VCB is the no. 1 Cycling team in Brazil focusing on Climbing and Tours. History The Beginning Founded in season 16 the beachfront neighborhood, Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro, the Velo Club quickly hired those with lesser football skills as the first 15 men rooster was assembled with sprinting as the main focus. Cycling being a small sport in Brazil, the team was not gifted with one talent beyond average. Cássio Carvalho took position as Captain, but it was the Time Trialist, Juliano Pelentir whom surpassed the 45 average mark and became the captain for the next seasons. Biggest problem for the team was the less attentive team management, directeur sportif Pelé, whom for the first couple of seasons forgot the team, which saw riders lying on the beach of Ipanema drinking Caiparinhas instead of training on the roads of Rio or participating in the many one-day races. In the beginning of season 20, Team Management decided to follow up on his team a bit better and the first acquisition was made as Englishmen, Philippe Grubbs was signed as new captain. Grubbs led the team to 4th division with support from Spaniard Toli Vazquez and Juliano Pelentir in a mix of Hilly Sprints and pure sprints. Having secured the a safe spot in 4th division the Velo Club followed up on the Transfer market and a transaction sending $67,000 to the accounts of Red Star saw birth of one of the most recognised riders in current OCM history. Tom Bella, nicknamed “the Beauty” started up training on the Sugarloaf Mountain with the support from for Germany Tour winner, Amadeu Brasil and in season 21, the Velo Club could present a rider with no less than 57 average in characteristics. The Era of Tom Bella Having reached such potentials, Tom Bella quickly required assistance, seeing Grubbs and Vazquez could only provide so little. Toli Vazquez and Phillippe Grubbs was put up for sale and was sold in a mix of cash and Gerasim Filatov and Zacarias Elizondo was contracted as promising talents. Following succesfull training (54 avg and 48 avg), the team existed of these three climbers in the quest for glory. Bella took his first win in AC Oporto and has since then added wins to his resumé. However Tom Bella has been underperforming in Tours, where TT always seem to get the Australian down the GC ladder. In the Minutemen and Monte Rosa, the Australian has never been much succesfull following up on results made in the mountains. At some point the directeur sportif even questioned whether to keep the "Aussie" or place focus elsewhere. Yet the "The Beauty" is still captain of the team. Critics has stated that the "Aussie" must reach the 1000 mark in terms of points and that is yet to be seen. During the Tom Bella-Era, the team has expanded the team with interessting names such as Porfiryi Obeysobakin and Wyatt Sahr. Both has been given the opportunity to follow their own goals with the support from the team. The two riders also marked a shift in focus seeing most riders in the team has been trained and developed on the Sugarloaf Mountain, both of these was acquired at a combined transfer sum of $ 480,000. In season 26, the team has entered the 2nd Division and is fighting immense to hold on to its top 100 position. Former Jerseys Core Riders *Tom Bella (Australia) *Gerasim Filatov (Ukraine) *Zacarias Elizondo (Spain) *Wyatt Sahr (Wales) Notable Former Riders :Captains *Tom Bella (Australia) *Gerasim Filatov (Ukraine) *Wyatt Sahr (Wales) :Team Mates *Zacarias Elizondo (Spain) *Porfiriy Ubeysobakin (Ukraine) Notable Results : Tours : General Classification *4th: Race of the Minutemen #8, Tom Bella *6th: Monte Rosa Tour #11, Tom Bella *7th: Monte Rosa Tour #12, Tom Bela : Youth Classification *1st: Race of the Minutemen #8, Tom Bella *3rd: Perm Tour #21, Tom Bella :Stages *1st: Race of the Minutemen #8 - Stage 4, Tom Bella *3rd: Monte Rosa Tour #11 - Stage 1, Tom Bella : : Classics *5th: VCK Classic #18 (Div 3), Gerasim Filatov *9th: Tour of Hawaii #18 (Div 3), Gerasim Filatov : : Single Day Races *1st: Graz Climbs#15, Gerasim Filatov *1st: Oslo Grand Prix #16, Yaroslav Morozov Links﻿ OCM Team Page Category:Teams Category:Brazil